John Yau
American | period = | genre = poetry, fiction, criticism, hybrid forms | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | spouse = Eve Aschheim | partner = | children = Cerise Yau | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Lavan Award, Jerome Shestack Prize, Guggenheim fellowship | signature = | website = }} John Yau (born 1950) is an American poet and art critic. Life According to Matthew Rohrer's profile on Yau from Poets & Writers Magazine,Poets and Writers Magazine (2002) 30:3 pp. 24-31 Yau's parents settled in Boston after emigrating from China in 1949. His father was a bookkeeper.Dictionary of Literary Biography, v. 234: American Short Story Writers Since WWII, p. 307 Yau characterizes his father as an outsider - "My father was half English and half Chinese ... so he never fit in."Reference required As a child Yau was friends with the son of Chinese-born abstract painter John Way. By the late 1960s Yau was exposed to, "a lot of anti-war poetry readings in Boston and so I'd heard Robert Bly, Denise Levertov, Galway Kinnell, people like that. I don't know - Robert Kelly (poet) just seemed a different kind of poet. Mysterious, in a way. He was interested in the occult, in gnosticism and abstract art - things that had a particular appeal to me."Reference required According to Rohrer, Yau's decision to attend Bard College was motivated by his admiration of Kelly. Yau earned a B.A. from Bard College in 1972, and an M.F.A. from Brooklyn College in 1978. He has published over 50 books of poetry, artists' books, fiction, and art criticism, including Exhibits (Letter Machine Editions, 2010), A Thing Among Things: The art of Jasper Johns (D.A.P., 2009), and The Passionate Spectator: Essays on art and poetry (University of Michigan Press, 2006). His collections of poetry include Paradiso Diaspora (Penguin, 2006), Ing Grish, with Paintings by Thomas Nozkowski (Saturnalia, 2005),Borrowed Love Poems (Penguin, 2002), Forbidden Entries (Black Sparrow, 1996), Berlin Diptychon with Photographs by Bill Barrette (Timken, 1995), Edificio Sayonara (Black Sparrow, 1992),Corpse and Mirror (Holt & Rinehardt, 1983), a National Poetry Series book selected by John Ashbery, and Broken Off by The Music (Burning Deck, 1981). Artists' books include projects with Squeak Carnwath, Richard Tuttle, Norbert Prangenberg, Hanns Schimannsky, Archie Rand, Norman Bluhm, Pat Steir, Suzanne McClelland, Robert Therrien, Leiko Ikemura, and Jürgen Partenheimer (a.o.), his books of art criticism include The United States of Jasper Johns (1996) and In the Realm of Appearances: The Art of Andy Warhol (1993). He has also edited Fetish ''(1998), a fiction anthology. He has been the Arts editor of ''The Brooklyn Rail since March 2004. (See http://www.brooklynrail.org). As of 2011, he lived in New York City and taught art criticism at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Recognition Yau has received awards and grants from Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation, the Academy of American Poets (Lavan Award), The American Poetry Review (Jerome Shestack Award), the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the General Electric Foundation, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Publications Poetry *''Crossing Canal Street''. Binghampton, NY: Bellevue Press, 1976. *''The Reading of an Ever-Changing Tale''. Clinton, NY: Nobodaddy Press, 1977. *''Sometimes''. New York: Sheep Meadow Press, 1979. *''The Sleepless Night of Eugene Delacroix''. New York: Release Press, 1980. *''Notarikon''. New York: Jordan Davies, 1981. *''Broken Off by the Music''. Providence, RI: Burning Deck Press, 1981. *''Corpse and Mirror'' (poetry). New York: Holt Rinehart, 1983. *''Dragon's Blood''. Colombes, France: Collectif Generacion, 1989. *''Big City Primer: Reading New York at the End of the Twentieth Century''. New York: Timken, 1991. *''Edificio Sayonara''. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1992. *''Postcards from Trakl''. New York: ULAE, 1994. *''Berlin Diptychon'' . Timken, 1995. *''Forbidden Entries''. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1996. *''Borrowed Love Poems''. New York: Penguin, 2002. * Ing Grish (with Thomas Nozkowski). Ardmore, PA: Saturnalia Press, 2005. *''Paradiso Diaspora''. New York: Penguin, 2006. *''Exhibits''. Denver, CO: Letter Machine Editions, 2010. Novel *''Hawaiian Cowboys''. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1994. Short fiction *''My Symptoms''. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1998. *''My Heart is That Eternal, Rose Tattoo''. Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 2001. Non-fiction Books on art *''In the Realm of Appearances: The art of Andy Warhol''. Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1993. *''A.R. Penck''. New York: Abrams, 1993. *''Chuck Close: Recent paintings'' (essay). New York: Pace Wildenstein, 1995. *''The United States of Jasper Johns: An essay''. Cambridge, MA: Zoland Books, 1996. *''Joe Coleman Original Sin: The visionary art of Joe Coleman'' (edited & designed by Katharine Gates, essay by Yau). New York: HECK Editions, 1997. *''Anthony Sorce, Four decades'' (exhibition curated by Stanley I. Grand, essay by Yau). Wilkes-Barre, PA: Sordoni Art Gallery, Wilkes University, 1998. *''Jorge Tacla: informacion, restringida, 29 de abril al 5 de junio de 1999'' (essay). Santiago de Chile: A.M.S. Marlborough, 1999. *''Randy Hayes: The world reveiled''. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1999. *''James Castle: The common place'' (essay). New York: Knoedler & Co. (New York, NY), 2000. *Pat Steir, Dazzling water, Dazzling Light (essay by Yau). Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press (Seattle, WA), 2000. *David Miller, David Miller: A Retrospective (essay by Yau). Saratoga Springs, NY: Tang Teaching Museum & Art Gallery, Skidmore College, 2001. *''Hundred More Jokes from the Book of the Dead'' (with Archie Ran). St. Helena, CA: Meritage Press, 2001. * Max Gimblett (with Wystan Curnow). Auckland, NZ: Craig Potton Publishers, 2002. *Robert Gordon, Deborah Butterfield (introduction by Jane Smiley, poems by Vicki Hearne, essay by Yau). New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003. *Introduction to Kay WalkingStick, Mythic Dances, Paintings from four decades (with essay by Stanley I. Grand). Cape Girardeau, MO: Southeast Missouri Regional Museum, 2004. *''Andalusia'' (with Leiko Ikemura),. Bonn, Germany: Weidle Verlang, 2006. *''A Thing Among Things: The art of Jasper Johns''. D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers, 2008. Collected editions *''Radiant Silhouette: New and selected work, 1974-1988'' (poems & stories). Santa Rosa, CA: Black Sparrow, 1989. Edited *Fairfield Porter: Collected poems, with selected drawings (edite with David Kermani). New York: Tibor de Nagy, 1985. *''In Pursuit of the Invisible: Selections from the collection of Janice and Mickey Cartin: An exhibition at the Loomis Chaffee School''. West Stockbridge, MA: Hard Press, 1996. *''Fetish: An anthology''. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1998. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the Poetry Foundation.John Yau b. 1950, Poetry Foundation, Web, Jan. 12, 2013. Audio / video *''Poetry reading, Hamilton College, 11 Jan. 1979'' (cassette). Clinton, NY: Audio-Visual Department, Hamilton College, 1979. *''John Yau'' (CD). New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1985. *''6/27/02 PAC lecture by John Yau on Jasper Johns, Warhol, etc.'' (CD). Naropa University, 2002. Except where noted, discographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:John Yau + audiobook, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 20, 2015. See also *Asian-American poets *List of U.S. poets References *The Language of Ethnicity: John Yau's Poetry and the Ethnic/Aesthetic Divide By: Mar, Christine. pp. 70–85 IN: Davis and Lee, Literary Gestures: The Aesthetic in Asian American Writing. Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP; 2006. (book article) *''The Object of Experiment: Figurations of Subjectivity in Asian American Experimental Literature'' By: Liu, Warren Tswun-Hwa; Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2005 Aug; 66 (2): 594. U of California, Berkeley, 2004. (dissertation abstract) *John Yau By: Birns, Nicholas. pp. 348–58 IN: Madsen, Asian American Writers. Detroit, MI: Gale; 2005. (book article) *Two Hat Softeners 'In the Trade Confession': John Yau and Kimiko Hahn By: Zhou, Xiaojing. pp. 168–89 IN: Zhou and Najmi, Form and Transformation in Asian American Literature. Seattle, WA: U of Washington P; 2005. (book article) *John Yau By: Rohrer, Matthew. pp. 177–98 IN: Henry and Zawacki, The VERSE Book of Interviews: 27 Poets on Language, Craft, and Culture. Amherst, MA: Verse; 2005. (book article) *Postmodernism and Subversive Parody: John Yau's 'Genghis Chan: Private Eye' Series By: Zhou, Xiaojing; College Literature, 2004 Winter; 31 (1): 73-102. (journal article) *Pidginizing Chinese By: Huang, Yunte. pp. 205–20 IN: Sommer, Bilingual Games: Some Literary Investigations. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan; 2003. (book article) *Undercover Asian: John Yau and the Politics of Ethnic Self-Identification By: Wang, Dorothy J.. pp. 135–55 IN: Davis and Ludwig, Asian American Literature in the International Context: Readings on Fiction, Poetry, and Performance. Hamburg, Germany: Lit; 2002. (book article) *''Remarkable Modernisms: Contemporary American Authors on Modern Art'' By: Morris, Daniel. Amherst, MA: U of Massachusetts P; 2002. (book) *John Yau By: Caples, Garrett. pp. 305–15 IN: Meanor and Lee, American Short-Story Writers since World War II: Third Series. Detroit, MI: Gale; 2001. (book article) *Strangers and Oneself: John Yau's Writings on Contemporary Art By: Morris, Daniel; Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry and Poetics, 2001 Winter-Spring; 21-22: 45-57. (journal article) *Form and Identity in Language Poetry and Asian American Poetry By: Yu, Timothy; Contemporary Literature, 2000 Spring; 41 (3): 422-61. (journal article) *''Necessary Figures: Metaphor, Irony and Parody in the Poetry of Li-Young Lee, Marilyn Chin, and John Yau'' By: Wang, Dorothy Joan; Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 1999 Sept; 60 (3): 747. U of California, Berkeley, 1998. (dissertation abstract) *''Word and Flesh: Materiality, Violence and Asian-American Poetics'' By: Chang, Juliana Chu; Dissertation Abstracts International, 1996 Mar; 56 (9): 3579A. U of California, Berkeley, 1995. (dissertation abstract) *A Bughouse Interaction By: Peterson, Eric; Bughouse, 1994 Summer; 2: 47-59. (journal article) *John Yau and the Seductions of Everything That Used to Be By: Foster, Edward Halsey; MultiCultural Review, 1994 Mar; 3 (1): 36-39. (journal article) *'Chaos Goes Uncourted: John Yau's Dis(-)Orienting Poetics' By: Wald, Priscilla. pp. 133–58 IN: Colatrella and Alkana, Cohension and Dissent in America. Albany: State U of New York P; 1994. (book article) * "Painted Words." In Something to Say: Thoughts on Art and Politics in America: Klin, Richard and Lily Prince (photographs); Leapfrog Press, 2011. ''Talisman'' on Yau *The Fall 1990 (vol. 5) issue of Talisman: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry and Poetics featured several articles on Yau: **An Interview with John Yau By: Foster, Edward; 31-50. **John Yau By: Foster, Edward (ed.); 31-50, 113-151. **On John Yau By: Chaloner, David; 113-114. **On John Yau By: Corbett, William; 114-115. **On John Yau By: Hemensley, Kris; 116-118. **Harmonic Interferences: A Note on John Yau By: Donahue, Joseph; 118-119. **The Dream Science of John Yau's 'Dragon's Blood' By: Mobilio, Albert; 119-120. **Guilt by Dissociation: John Yau's Poetics of Possibility By: Wald, Priscilla; 121-125. **'Pieces of a Piece' By: Campbell, Bruce; 126-134. **John Yau: A Selected Bibliography By: Foster, Edward; 147-151. Notes External links ;Poems *John Yau profile & 1 poem ("Russian Letter") at the Academy of American Poets. *"Fisherman" *[http://www.saturnaliabooks.com/?q=node/35 from Ing Grish] * John Yau b. 1950 at the Poetry Foundation. *"Borrowed Love Poems" by John Yau (10 poems) ;Prose *John Yau at Hyperallergic ;Audio / video *John Yau at PennSound *John Yau at YouTube ;Books *John Yau at Amazon.com *John Yau, Giant Wall *John Yau books at Black Sparrow ;About *"Further Adventures in the Monochrome: A conversation with John Yau", L.A. Review of Books, 2013. ;Etc. *"Add-Verse" a poetry-photo-video project John Yau participated in Category:American poets of Asian descent Category:American writers of Chinese descent Category:Guggenheim Fellows Category:Living people Category:1950 births Category:Bard College alumni Category:Art critics Category:American art critics Category:Brooklyn College alumni Category:20th-century poets Category:21st-century poets Category:American poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Chinese-American poets